The Alternative
by HanHannie
Summary: An Alternative Story Line to Blue Exorcist. Happens after Rin goes insane with power against Amiamon. Rin is taken out of the cram school in order to focus on his demonic powers, however his personality changes and his "friends" are worried. Can they bring him back to the cram school where he belongs? BAD SUMMARY!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1! New Fanfiction!**

* * *

The Exwires of True Cross Academy finally return home after a too-long-for-comfort trip to Head Quarters. They had just saved Rin Okumura, the son of Satan, from being executed after proving that he was unable to control his immense power during the exwire camping trip. However, even after the decision was made, Rin was quickly rushed to the infirmary with Yukio trailing close behind. None of them had seen the two brothers since.

"Do you think Rin will be okay?" Shiemi asks. Her head dropped and her fingers laced together over her chest. "Yeah," Bon answered, "there's no way that idiot would die after what happened."

Shiemi smiled shyly at the remark. Her heart ache finally coming to a stop. They all walked in silence. Their footsteps beating on the tiled surface of the school street that leads to the dorms. "So what's going to happen now?" Koneko asks, breaking the awkward silence.

"Don't know." Bon answers again, "Guess, we'll wait and see."

"I hope, Rin comes back to school tomorrow." Shiemi replies her smile never fading from her face.

No one says a word. Koneko looks at Shiemi in shock, his jaw dropping to the floor. _How could she want that monster back?_ He thought.

The Next Day

The Exwires come to class preparing for the results. However, none came. Neither Yukio nor Rin showed up for class. Bon fists his hands and bangs them on the desk "What the hell is taking so long! They should be here by now."

Shima raises his hands, palms facing out in a defense position. "Calm down, Bon. I'm sure they just stopped because a really hot girl caught their attention. You know how Rin can be."

"I'm pretty sure Rin's not as perverted as you," Izumo announces.

"You know, Izumo, you can be pretty harsh sometimes. Besides I'm not a pervert, I'm just a guy."

"Perv."

Suddenly, the door creaks open. Slowly at first and then the door shoots across the room. Shura struts in, obviously angry at something. "What's up Ms. Shura," Shima asks.

She smashes her hand on the desk, making it tremble as well as scaring the crap out of most of the students. "Listen up!" She shouts, "You all will be getting rid of low level demons that stashed themselves inside the school. Hop to it."

"Wait!" Bon replies, "That's it? Seriously?"

"Just shut the hell up and do as you're told!"

"What about Okumura!?"

Shura's eyes drop to the desk, her hands folding into fists as she trembles with so many emotions she doesn't know which to release first. "I don't know. I haven't heard anything yet."

"Ah," Shima sighs, "so that's why you're so pissed off today."

Shura throws a piece of chalk and it nails Shima smack in the forehead. He falls back out of his chair in shock. Izumo laughs. While Bon and Koneko grabs his arms helping him up. "Anymore stupid questions?" Shura growls.

The Exwires hurry up out of the room, almost running over each other to get through the door before Shura has another mean streak. They run down the hall a few rooms before deciding to stop and check one of the classrooms for demons.

Days pass as they await the results, however still they were disappointed. But this didn't stop them from doing their jobs. "Why'd we get stuck doing this work?" Izumo inquires. Her hand brushing away a demon that landed on her shoulder.

"We're Exwires. Of course we get the grunt work." Bon answers as he brushes more and more small, fuzzy eyed demons from their hiding spot. He sighs to himself. He too felt that this was boring, not to mention he was still worried about Yukio and Rin. But then again, so were all of them. At the same time, would they want him back in class? How could they want the son of Satan to be back?

It's been 2 days since they started sweeping out the demons from the school. The work wasn't hard, but it took a lot of time. There had to be thousands of low level demons crawling all over the place. Each one having to be captured and then exorcised. It was pain-staking and the exwires were worn out.

"How many more rooms left in this building?" Koneko asks.

"Just two more." Shiemi answers enthusiastically.

"The real question is how many buildings are left in this school?" Shima smirks. His eyes tired from it all.

"Four more." Bon answers.

An in unison "Ugh" came from the group of young exorcists. All of their heads dropping at once. "This work is going to kill us!" Izumo mumbles.

"No kidding." Shima replies.

All of a sudden, the door to their room opens. And a face peaks around the side of the door. He grins and steps further into the room.

"Rin?" They call in unison.

"Hey guys!" Rin waves. His sword wrapped around his shoulder, looking as if nothing ever happened.

"Are you feeling okay, Rin?" Shiemi asks.

"Yeah I'm doing just fine."

"So, what happened?" Bon inquires.

"Nothing special really. I just came in here to –," he pauses and takes a deep breath. He bows in respect, "– to thank you, all of you."

The others look at him in shock. Some even drop their feather dusters creating a clang on the floor.

He stands up straight, chuckles and grins. He moves his hand and scratches the back of his neck, awkwardly. "Thanks you guys, for, you know, fixing my sword and helping me not get executed."

Yet another silence. Rin's arm drops from his neck and his deep blue eyes, which were once happy to see them all, turn sad and distant, "and good-bye."

Now everyone really drops their feather dusters. That was even a greater shock than the one before. Shiemi rushes to Rin and gives him a hug. "What do you mean by good-bye? You just got back!"

Tears start forming in Shiemi's eyes but she holds them back as best she can. Rin hugs her back for just a moment and then releases her. He steps back making sure that he is out of her grasp. "Well, you see, I kind of can't be in this class anymore."

"What?" Bon asks, "Why not?" His hands

"Because," he looks toward the window, his eyes becoming even more distant, "I'm not human."

"What does that got anything to do with it?"

"It's obvious I can't be trained like a human, and if I can't be trained as a human," Rin looks back at his classmates and sighs, "then I'll have to be trained like a demon."

"But that's insane! You're only half demon!"

"Yeah, but I'm that half is the son of Satan, the King of all demons. Besides, it's not like I was doing any good in this class, maybe this is better for me."

"How could you say that?" Bon shouts, "Don't you like being a part of our class?"

Bon steps closer to Rin. Hoping to put emphasis on his point. Rin's eyes meet his for a second and then Rin sighs. "More than you know."

His last statement rang in the air while everyone took in the current situation. Rin's eyes brim with tears, but he forces them back. Shiemi cries openly, while Bon, Shima, and Izumo stare wide eyed. Koneko, on the other hand, makes sure his eyes never meet Rin's by looking at his feet swinging from the desk that he's sitting on.

The silence breaks, suddenly, "I'm sorry." Rin mumbles, his tears starting to trickle down his face as he runs out the door and down the hallway. The other's rush to the door to watch his back slowly fading from view.

* * *

 **Since this is a new fanfiction, I'm going to be looking closely at reviews, follows, and favorites to find out if it's worth continuing.  
** **So if you do enjoy this so far, or think it has potential let me know.  
** **Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I got a bunch of good reviews and wants to keep this fanfiction going so here it is.  
** **Chapter 2 - Demonic Cruelty?**

* * *

The next few weeks were slow and boring. Rin never did come back to the exorcist class, but he did start avoiding the others during school. In fact, other than small bits of information from Yukio, the Exwires didn't know anything that was happening with Rin. However, they did noticed that he would come to school with huge wounds and bandages plastered all over his skin. _What kind of training could he possibly doing that he gets hurt so much?_

"He did say that he was going to be trained as a demon?" Izumo stated.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Bon argued, "Exorcists kill demons, I've never seen a demon work for the Red Cross unless they were familiars."

"Maybe it's a way for Rin to control his flames better," Koneko responded, feeling less and less afraid of Rin each and every day he was gone. In fact, now that Rin has been gone for a while, he is starting to miss his happy-go-lucky stupidity.

"That's great and all, but what are they expecting from that idiot?"

"Well, he's a weapon," Izumo clarifies, "that's all he's good for in the Exorcists' eyes."

"You know, you're really cruel, you know that," Shima replies while scratching the back of his head.

"Just being honest." Izumo declares. Her voice raising slightly on the word "honest".

"That doesn't matter. It still doesn't explain why he's avoiding us." Bon says, angrily.

"Well, that's pretty obvious, don't you think," Shima answers. Now everyone looks directly at him. It only takes a moment for him to start his explanation. "Oh come on, like you guys don't know. It's normal teenage angst if you ask me. He probably believe we don't care for him anymore because he's a demon. Bon's right when he says that Exorcists kill demons. Even though he's only half demon, that half of him is connected to the most powerful demon in the world. It's probably the reason he also tried to keep it hidden all this time."

"In all honesty, how did we not notice the fangs and ears before?" Izumo questions, shrugging in the process.

All of them stare at her for a while. Most of them believed him to just look weird. He is a weird kid after all. And who the heck looks in someone's mouth all the time? No one. But still, there were small hints all the time and they didn't notice until the flames came out.

"But, it's not our place to say anything about this." Koneko says, trying to calm everyone down.

"Yeah. I guess you're right Koneko," Bon sighs, "We'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

They did. For the next few days, the others constantly kept a close eye on Rin. However, other than the usual bandages and the sad and hurt expressions on his face, everything seemed normal. Rin still talked and bantered with Yukio every so often. He still flunked his classes, cooked his own meals, and ate his weight in meat. So at least that was normal. He started, at least, greeting the others on the way to school, and even dared to make eye contact with them a few times.

Still his training was a mystery. Something that the others didn't like. Unlike the old hyperactive Rin, this Rin was worn out completely. No energy left in his body, which was worrying the rest of his old classmates.

Eventually, the Exwires gave up on trying to get Rin to tell them what's been going on. It was obviously he's sworn to secrecy because he'll be having a casual conversation with them and then drop it completely when asked about it.

As the sit in the cram school classroom, awaiting their next lecture, they ponder what Rin has been doing this whole time. That's when Yukio comes in to start the class.

"Alright everyone, today's class we'll be learning more biblical lines that can exercise high level demons as well as prayers to bless water to become holy water."

"Aw, come on teach," Shima complains, "We've already done this stuff."

"As they say," Yukio responds, pushing his glass farther onto his face, "practice makes perfect."

Slouching in their chairs, they all groan in protest.

"Don't worry, I brought a friend to help us out." Yukio announces excitedly, "You can come in now."

The door creaks open slowly, and in walks their very own Rin Okumara.

"H-Hey Everybody!" Rin waves, grinning like an idiot.

"Rin!" Shiemi calls out, running out of her seat to encase Rin in a hug. He immediately hugs her back.

"Rin?" The others question.

"Yes, Rin." Yukio responds calmly.

"Why the hell is he here?" Bon asks, clearly confused and relieved. Shiemi releases Rin and returns to her seat at the front row.

"What's your problem, Suguro?" Rin asks, irritated.

"Rin is here to help us demonstrate some of these new tactics." Yukio interrupts, waving his right hand out to the side as an introduction.

"More like I'm the Guinea Pig." Rin whispers under his breath. Yukio laughs nervously at the comment, wishing that this wasn't happening.

Many of these procedures could possible hurt or kill Rin. Hopefully, they can stay to lower level exorcism to decrease any injury but with Rin being as irritating as he is and Suguro having some anger problems there may be some problems.

In fact, Yukio was expecting problems. Luckily Yukio is a trained medic and with Rin being half human, most human remedies would work, but he'd still have to be careful.

"Alright let's get started." Yukio begins, Rin takes a seat at the teacher's desk and draws pictures on the chalkboard, while he awaits his orders. "Let's start with the making of holy water. Now different levels of holy water is blessed differently. Each new level has to be blessed with a new prayer or incantation. Level one holy water is only uses the first incantation shown on page twenty four in your books. While level two holy water uses both the second and the first incantation and so on and so forth for all ten levels."

As he continues with his lecture, Yukio creates the first three levels of holy water in beakers at the desk. First drawing circular symbols on each beaker and then blessing them with their prayers, respectively. "Alright Rin," Yukio calls. Rin drops his chalk, sighs, and stands up. He, then, walks to Yukio. "Stick out your hand."

He does. Yukio drops a small drop of level one holy water onto the back of Rin's hand. It sizzles slightly like soda on a table and then disappears. Rin grimaces at the pain. He knew it would hurt but at a level one it still hurt, like getting burned slightly when he makes toast in the microwave oven. "Alright now, walk around and show everyone the burn."

"Alright." Rin sighs as he starts to make his rounds. They all see a small, swollen, red spot about the size of a dime.

"How does it feel, Rin?" Shiemi asks, concerned.

Noticing this, Rin responds, "Don't worry, it's not that bad."

With that they continue to level 2, where Yukio repeated the procedure. This time Rin actually cried out in pain and the burn was bigger, redder (almost purple in fact), a penetrated deeper into the skin. The others start to worry.

"Is he going to be okay, Mr. Okumura?" Bon asks.

"He'll be fine. It'll hurt for a while like a real, fire burn but it'll heal and there won't be any permanent damage." He could feel the worry in the air and to be honest he was worried too. He didn't like hurting his brother, actually this was the opposite of what his goal was. But, he was ordered to do it so he will.

"Last level, ready?" Yukio asks Rin.

Rin nods, confidently. Rin was surprised how confident he sounded when in actuality he was scared. That last one hurt… a lot.

But this was part of his training. He had to become at least partially immune to holy water if he wanted to survive alongside other exorcists. Holy water is uncontrollable. An exorcist can aim all they want, the water will still splatter and if Rin happens to be close it could be game over.

He watches in fear as the last drop of holy water drops on to his skin. A level 3. It burned, it felt like there was a hole in his hand and it was bleeding. Not to mention it created a much bigger blotch than the others, one that covered his whole hand including all the other burns. And a burn on top of another burn hurts like hell and they bled more than the rest of his hand.

In summary it hurt like hell and it looked even worse.

The others rise from their seats and Rin clutches his hand with his good one and cuddles it to his chest. "This is only a level 3," Yukio states darkly, "Imagine a level 10."

Quickly, Yukio grabs Rin's hand and pushes it into a bucket of cold, natural water. Rin yelps at first and then sighs in relief at the comfort the water was giving his hand.

Yukio dries his hand, wraps it tightly and then sends Rin on his way.

Even though the experiment was over, the other's still had a lot to say about it. And by the looks on their faces they weren't happy.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed. This fanfiction is still on trial just to see if I should continue. But at the moment it seems that I will. I don't have a complete plot at the moment, more like random ideas that will eventually turn into a plot type setting. So please continue to read because it'll get interesting!  
Thanks so much for all the people who reviewed and talked me into continuing.**

 **Please follow, favorite, and review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Training Grounds**

* * *

Once Rin is clear out of the school, the others gather around Yukio, anger chiseled into their facial features.

"What the hell, man?" Bon speaks up, flaring his hands in emphasis.

"He'll be fine." Yukio replies flatly.

"Still that was pretty harsh."

"His demonic powers will have that healed within the day. Don't worry about it." Yukio answers, his eyes trained on the desk as he packs up his things.

"Aren't you against this? This is your own brother, flesh and blood!" Bon yells out in anger.

Yukio's brow creases in pent up anger. "Alright everyone, sit back down!" He orders.

In shock, everyone does as told, including Suguro. Yukio sets papers for the next less down on the desk before beginning. "Listen up! What happens to Rin is none of your concern. His new training and lessons are different now. That's all you need to know! However, Rin will be joining us every so often so keep these feelings to yourselves, he doesn't need distractions."

"But why? Why not let him stay here?" Bon argues.

"Do you honestly think either one of us what this? Rin wants to come back, I know he does and, to be honest, I want him here too." Yukio states darkly as he stares at the paper on his desk with intent and anger, "But, we don't have a choice. Rin was almost executed a month ago. I promised myself I would protect him. If this is what needs to happen for him to be alive and safe, then I won't get in the way."

He pauses and looks up at his students. His eyes narrow into a harsh but serious glare, "If you all feel that way, then you'll do the same."

The class stares in awe at their teacher's audacity. "Now," Yukio sighs and softens his features while straightening out his exorcist jacket, "let's get started on the next lecture."

The rest of the class was uneventful. Yukio talked about the significance of the chanting lines from Chapter 11. However, no one really paid much attention. They were all too worried and crestfallen from what happened before.

This was for Rin's sake. They understood that. They understood that he needed to learn his strengths and protect his weaknesses. They understood that he couldn't learn the way they do. They understood that, in the exorcist eyes, he needed more supervision. They understood that at the end of the day he was a valuable weapon. They understood that he was the Son of Satan and therefore the Prince of Gehenna.

They understood all of that.

Still…

They could not understand why he wasn't allowed to speak to them. Why he wasn't allowed to be friends with them. Why he couldn't acknowledge them as equals. In fact, Rin probably saw himself as being lower than they were, scum almost.

It wasn't rare for Exorcists to have demon bloodlines. That stuff happened all the time. But, he was a special case being Satan's son and all. Even Yukio, the twin that didn't inherit any demonic powers or physical characteristics, still was watched all the time just in case.

It was sickening. They were still people. And by what they've been told, Rin didn't even know about his demonic powers until about five months ago.

"He's a human dammit," Bon complains as him and the rest of the class make their way to the training room for gym.

"But he's not. He a demon." Koneko argues.

"Half demon to be correct." Shima corrects.

"How does Satan have a child anyways? I thought he didn't have a body. Hence the blue night incident." Izumo points out.

"Satan definitely has a body. I just don't think he can use it in Assiah." Koneko answers.

"I wonder why." Bon says aloud.

"Probably because demonic powers go insane here while they are a bit tamer in Gehenna. According to the books, Gehenna's atmosphere increases the strength of the body while Assiah weakens it. Since Satan is so powerful his Assiah body probably can't handle the pressure and burns up immediately on contact with this world."

"But Satan's been able to pass over before. How can he do it without losing his body?" Shima asks.

"I'm not sure," Koneko thinks aloud, "I think he uses some kind of transference. Where he transfers his soul into the blue flame and then he possesses the bodies of others, but even those bodies are too weak for his power."

"So maybe Rin is just possessed which is why he has powers while Yukio doesn't. Maybe he's able to with stand Satan's power." Shima answers confidently.

"Unfortunately there's one problem with your logic." Bon sighs.

"What's that?"

"You know, they always say two heads are better than one. But in Rin's case, he's so stupid there couldn't possibly be two minds in that one body."

They all start to laugh at the joke.

* * *

As they enter the training grounds, a colosseum like room, they notice many different kinds of guns, swords, and other machinery usually used by exorcists including holy water grenades, small knifes, and many rubber bullets. They also see an archery type bullseye stand on the other side of the ring.

"Guess were learning Dragoon style exorcism today." Shima says aloud.

"That's good. Better than memorizing a bunch of lines." Izumo complains.

"Stop making fun of Arias." Bon orders angrily.

"Whatever." Izumo replies, easily getting bored of the current conversation and not wishing to be confronted.

They finally made it to the table that held the weaponry. Yukio was standing on the other side eagerly expecting them.

"You teaching us today, Mr. Okumura?" Koneko asks.

"Yes. I am you're instructor for training today. As is Shura." He announces pointing towards Shura who is leaning against the wall relaxingly.

"Yo!" She greets waving a hand. She stands with a small grunt and makes her way towards the class.

"Alright," Yukio begins, "Today is all about weapon training. Shura will be taking half of you and training you on the sword while I'll take the other half and we'll train will some artillery. So split up."

Izumo, Shiemi, and Nemu Takara (a mysterious kid who basically talks through his puppet) follow Yukio to the artillery while Bon, Konekomaru, and Shima follow Shura to her side for sword training.

"Alright, it's time to meet your opponent!" Shura shouts like she's announcing a pro-wrestling match.

"Our opponent?" Konekomaru questions.

"Get the hell out here!" Shura calls behind her.

"Shut up already!" Someone calls back, clearly annoyed. The three Exwires hear footsteps behind them and turn around. There behind them is Rin.

"Rin!" The yell in unison, mouths agape.

"What's up?" He replies, happily.

"You're our opponent?" Bon mumbles.

"Yep! Cool right. It's part of my training."

"So we're going against your fire sword?" Shima asks nervously. Clear worried about what's going to happen.

"Nope," Shura answers for him, "Rin here will be using a normal sword just like all of you. No flames. Right Rin?" Shura says smacking him on the shoulder, obviously expecting an answer.

"Yes, ma'am." He squeaks quickly.

"Good. Now each of you grab a weapon."

They do as told. Grabbing identical swords, the four get into a circle and into fighting stances. "This isn't fair, Rin's had more experience with swords." Shima complains.

"That's why it's a three on one battle. You three against Rin." Shura informs.

"What?" Rin complains boisterously, "Why?"

"You're ten times stronger than them in strength, stamina, and power. For you specifically, Rin, this is a time to figure out how to control those talents and not hurt your friends and allies. While the others will focus on taking you down." Shura explains.

"So basically, Rin's supposed to hold back while we go all out." Koneko interprets.

"Correct. Now get to it." Shura claps her hands and leaves the ring.

"Well this should be fun. I've always wanted to kick your face in." Bon smirks.

"Yeah!" Rin declares back, "I'd like to see you try!"

"Let's see how good you are now that you've done all this special training." Bon taunts.

"You'll see! I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"I wouldn't get him so fired up, Bon. You may regret it." Koneko warns.

"Yeah man, lighten up." Shima adds.

Bon grunts in understanding, while Rin smirks at them for being scared. Once seeing that goofy grin on Rin's face, Bon decides to fall back into his stances again awaiting the start. They all follow his lead dropping back into their stances.

"Alright, remember these are real swords but they're dull so they won't necessarily cut you in half but they will leave some nasty bruises and small cuts, so don't screw around." Shura warns.

"Right!" They all call in unison.

"Okay then. Last one standing between the two teams wins. Start!"

With that they all charge in, disregarding everything Shura just said and pound each other with their swords. Of course, Koneko is knocked out first and Shima gets hit slightly and pretends to pass out to get out of fighting anymore, leaving Rin and Suguro in the ring.

By duking it out, they show off their skills. However, with the lack of training Bon has, he easily gets bested by Rin's skill and falls. Rin obviously gloats over his win and Bon calls a rematch. For about an hour the two fight it out. Rin wins most of the time, but Bon sometimes got the best of him and knocks him out of the ring several times. They both completely forget about Koneko and Shima. While Shura shakes her head at their idiocy.

Still Shura couldn't help but think that Rin has significantly gotten better at handling a sword. Not as good as her, but still he probably has more skill than many of the knights she's seen.

When it was time to switch, the boys were exhausted. "Alright Rin, you can leave." Shura announces.

Rin nods and heads towards the wall where he hung up his own sword. He swings it across his shoulder and heads towards the exit. The others watch him leave. "Why does he get to leave, Ms. Shura?" Bon asks, clearly annoyed.

"He's got more training to do. Plus there's no reason for Rin to learn anything other than swordsman ship, since he really shouldn't be using any other weapon."

"But wouldn't that make him better-rounded if he knew multiple styles of exorcism?" Koneko asks.

"Technically yes. But there are a few reasons to take into account," Shura begins, "One: He needs to focus on his sword skills. Two: Other than perhaps Dragoon he really can't be any other meister."

"What do you mean?" Bon asks.

"He can't be an Aria, the biblical words alone may harm him. He can't be a Tamer because he can't really summon demons. Although he does have Kuro, so perhaps that may be within his reach but it's still a stretch. The last is a Doctor, and I don't know about you but I wouldn't want Rin of all people anywhere near my wounds. In all honesty, he'd probably make them worse."

"I guess that makes sense." Bon agrees as an unpleasant picture of Rin and a medical needle comes to mind.

"The third reason is that The Vatican doesn't want to make Rin too strong in case he were to rebel. They want him just strong enough to be used as a weapon but still lower than a high ranking exorcist."

"But then he couldn't defeat Satan or any high level demons that come after him."

"That's why he's under close watch at all times." Shura looks over at their concerned faces. Her face turns extremely stern, "Look I'm not happy about this either, but these are orders."

With that said, she turns them away to their next lesson.

* * *

 **So with all of you really wanting to keep this story going, I've decided to continue it. So Cheers!  
Please note that this story, for how I've planned it, will have a lot of twists and turns. So Be Prepared!  
**

 **Otherwise, Please, Follow, Favorite, and Review!** **  
**

 **Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Intervention**

* * *

Over the next month, the cram school students notice that they've seen Rin less and less. Before they saw him at trainings and sometimes in the classroom, but recently he's gone all together. In fact he hasn't shown up to his regular school classes either. (Not that he would have passed anyways).

Even Yukio has started to get worried as Rin hasn't really been coming back to the dorm that often. He'd be gone all night, come back for some meals, and then leave again. He wished he knew more about this training of his but whenever he tried to do detective work it ended up nowhere.

When Rin did come back to the dorm, however, he was more exhausted and less happy. In fact it felt like he was turning to stone the way his features where chiseled. Almost like he was stone. Completely emotionless.

Still, his eyes spoke for him. He was tired and depressed. Probably because he's been stripped away from the life he's grown to love, along with the people he's sworn to protect.

Sighing, Yukio finishes the lecture and sends his class on their way.

"Yuki?" Shiemi asks hesitantly. She comes up to him, her green eyes full of concerned as she folds one hand and cuddles it to her chest.

"What is it, Shiemi?" Yukio asks back, calmly as a small but honest smile graces his face.

"Is Rin okay?"

At this point, everyone stops packing up and turns to hear his answer. Yukio sighs, "Rin's fine, Shiemi. Why do you ask?"

He questions her only to see if she has any new information that he doesn't. "Well," She begins, "He's never here anymore and sometimes when I see him in the school hallways he seems paler than before. I'm just worried, is all."

"Don't be. Rin's fine. I'm sure of it." Yukio replies blankly.

"Where is he, Mr. Okumura?" Bon asks flatly, angrily.

"I don't know." Yukio admits his eyes downcast at the papers on his desk.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"Yes." Yukio admits again.

"Then why are you sitting here defending orders that are obviously harming him?"

Yukio's eyes vanish behind his glasses as a gloomy and cold atmosphere takes hold of the entire classroom. "I've tried." He chokes out, "I've tried to get Rin to be sent back here, but they refuse."

"Why not ask Sir Pheles for help then?"

"Because," Yukio sighs. He pauses for a moment weighing his options if he should tell his students this.

"Because… What?" Bon prods.

"Because Sir Pheles is training him." Yukio blurts out.

"What?!" The rest yell in unison.

"I knew Sir Pheles was a powerful demon, but to have him train him seems absurd. They guys a nut-case." Bon points out clearly surprised.

"Sir Pheles knows more about demons and demonic powers than anyone in this school ever could. He's the best teacher for Rin."

"But Rin doesn't just need to know fighting skills, he needs to learn intellectual skills too! Now that I think about it, that's probably more important."

"Sir Pheles knows what he's doing." Yukio defends.

"That's a load of crap!" Bon growls, "He runs this damn school, so why wouldn't he trust the teachers that he hired and let Rin come back to the cram school."

Yukio sighs, "Why not go ask him then." He realizes that he gave too much information. Now they will be going after Sir Pheles. However, there's nothing he can do about it now. So he walks out of the room, unwilling to answer any more questions or give out any new information.

Bon turns to the others. "Let's go see Sir Pheles."

Shima and Shiemi nod willingly. Konekomaru looks absolutely terrified and Izumo is completely emotionless, probably still thinking of a course of action.

"This is pointless, Bon." Koneko finally speaks up, "There's no way Sir Pheles will let Rin come back because of us."

"I'm going to try anyways." Bon growls.

"It's not going to work!" Koneko argues again.

"He's being tortured, man! No human deserves that!" Bon yells back.

Koneko looks at him, terrified. Bon sighs, "I'm sorry, Konekomaru."

"Bon's right though. Rin doesn't deserve any of what he seems to be getting." Shima states, calmly. Stepping between the two.

"What if he's doing just fine?!" Koneko finally speaks up, "What if he's not being tortured like we think he is?"

"Dude, they burned off his entire hand just for a class experiment!" Bon exclaims.

"He also let us gang up on him during training." Shima adds.

"And that doesn't explain the rest of injuries he's been getting." Shiemi enhances sweetly and obviously concerned.

"That settles it, we're going to see Sir Pheles." Bon states, clearly.

* * *

At Mephisto's Office

The Exwires gather at a large, dark wood door. "Everyone ready?" Bon whispers, holding his hand up to the door before knocking. He waits for everyone to nod. He nods back in affirmation. Then he knocks three times.

"Come in." The voice on the other side says.

They open the door into Mephisto's office. A room filled with odd trinkets, collectables, instant ramen cups and lots and lots of color. In the middle of the room, Mephisto Pheles sits at his large wooden desk eating ramen. "Ah! Welcome my young Ewires!" He shouts, "What brings you here?"

"We're here to ask about, Rin." Bon states as clearly as possible.

"Uh-oh. Has the little demon done something wrong?" Mephisto purrs, as he laces his hands and rests his chin upon them. His dark green eyes piercing into their very souls.

"No. We just want to know why he isn't allowed to be in the cram school anymore."

"Well that's classified information!" Mephisto states raising his voice in excitement, "However," he goes back to be completely serious, "Why is it you want to know?"

"Sir Pheles! Please let Rin come back to the cram school!" Shiemi shouts out of turn, bowing in respect as tears fill her spring, green eyes.

"Hm." He hums, "Sorry. I can't do that."

"Why not?" Shiemi ask, innocently.

"I understand everyone's feelings towards him, however, The Vatican wish for him to train as a demon."

"But he's a human!" Bon rages, anger boiling inside him. Still he refuses to let it out.

"That's where you're wrong, my young friend," Mephisto drones, wagging his index finger in the air, "Rin Okumura is not human. He is the Son of Satan and, according to Grigori, precautions must be put in place."

"But why? He hasn't done anything!"

"Destroying a forest, almost harming all of you. Not to mention, his "father", Shiro Fujimoto, never reported finding him. He has done more than enough."

"He didn't harm us though! He protected us!" Izumo shouts from the back of the group.

"Ah, yes. He did. But his powers were never meant to be seen. He also lost control of them."

"So give him extra training like Ms. Shura was doing before. But you didn't have to strip him of his life!" Bon shouts back.

Suddenly, they hear the door click closed behind them. "Guys?"

They spin around. "Rin?" The shout in unison. There was Rin, wide eyed, clearly in shock of what was happening. He had his school jacket thrown behind his shoulder and a white short sleeved shirt on, which aloud everyone to see the bandages that covered both arms completely.

"Ah, Rin!" Mephisto greets, "Come sit! We were just discussing your future!"

"What?" Rin blinks in confusion but does as ordered. He walks through the crowd and sits on Mephisto's chair arm. Pulling one leg up by his chest while the other dangles off the side. He turns his focus to the others. "What's this about?"

Wasting no time, Bon orders, "Come back to the cram school, Rin."

At first Rin gasps, slightly, in surprise. His eyes widen again. Then as quickly as that happened, he averted his gaze from the others. "I c-can't" he stutters.

"Why not, Rin?" Shiemi asks.

"I don't belong there." He states blankly, still not meeting their gaze.

"But you do belong there, Rin!" Shiemi shouts. Rin jumps due to her noise and springs his eyes up to look at her. Her tears were, finally, falling from her eyes, trailing down the sides of her face. If there was one thing Rin hated, he hated seeing people cry.

"Shiemi…" He whispers. He reaches out to her for comfort from behind Mephisto's desk but quickly retracts his hand to not touch her. He adverts his gaze once again, this time down at the floor. "I'm sorry, but I'm not finished training yet."

"What do you mean by that?" Bon calls out.

"I haven't fully been able to control my flames, yet. I don't want to hurt you. Any of you." He mumbles pathetically, but continues. "Back in the forest, I lost control. I attacked anything that moved. The only thing that stopped me was Shiemi, though I don't know why you would have done that. I could have really hurt you. I won't let that happen again."

"We're not that weak!" Bon shouts, "You can trust us."

Rin chuckles, "I know that."

"Then w—"

"I just want to make sure for my own sake," Rin interrupts. Bon and Shiemi back down. Rin stays silent. The conversation ends.

To break the awkward silences, Mephisto excitedly shouts, "See!" He places his hand of Rin's head, messing up his hair, "Rin's perfectly happy here and by focusing on this new curriculum he can achieve his goal. Do you really want to take that away from him?"

They shake their heads.

"We'll then. I guess you've gotten your answer. Rin Okumura will not be returning to the cram school. He will stay as my familiar until I deem his training is complete."

"Familiar!" Rin shouts, not liking him being a servant to Mephisto.

"Yes. Aren't you lucky? I don't take too many familiars you know." Mephisto roughly palms his head again before turning to the others, smiling. "You all are free to leave. Good-bye!"

"Thank you, Sir Pheles." They bow in respect, then take their leave.

They walk quietly down the hall, everyone feeling disappointed with the ending.

* * *

 **Chapter 4 Complete!**

 **What did you think?  
Any suggestions for chapters you want to see? Or things you want more explained?  
Please let me know!  
Sorry for any typing errors!**

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	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Spirit Circle**

* * *

It's been a week since their meeting with Mephisto. Yukio caught wind of their intervention, but said nothing of it, to the happiness of his students. They were worried that if their plan didn't work that Yukio would scold them. That would have been an even more pain in the ass than trying to get Rin to return. Yukio though their age, was strict in his teachings and even stricter in his rules. The only person who he ever let by was, sadly, Rin. And they did indeed go against his warning.

What the Exwires didn't know was that Yukio, though slightly disappointed, was amazed by his students' audacity and bravery to ask Sir Pheles for Rin to return. Though, in all honesty, it would have been better if they succeeded rather than come back empty handed. Ah well, _C'est La Vie._

He was just happy that they had tried anything at all. Yukio felt a small bit of guilt at this. He hadn't done anything to help. And this was his brother, his blood. But instead he accepted this fate, easily. Too easily.

Not to mention that not only was he not there to speak on his students' behalf but if he didn't force Rin to keep his demon side a secret this never would have happened. The others accept him anyways and even helped save his life, they cared more about the human side than they hated the demon side. If only he'd figured that out sooner and allowed Rin to tell them, then this wouldn't have become such a big deal.

Either way, he couldn't get Rin out of this, not until Rin was fully trained and able to control his demonic powers. That would be the only way for Rin to prove that he wasn't a danger, but a necessity. That the technical "Prince of Gehenna" could help keep Assiah safe.

This was their only chance.

Once the students were seated once again from their training. Yukio begins yet another lesson on typical demon types and exorcism. Eventually the Exwires are dismissed from class, overly exhausted from the day's activities and the disappointment of their recent failure. Together they leave.

Yukio, quietly watches them go while packing up his own things and getting lost in his thoughts. Suddenly, a loud bang from above wakes him from his daydream. He looks at the ceiling, confused. But rather than contemplate what the possible noise could be from, he draws his gun and walks until he is directly under one of the air vents.

Aiming his gun he awaits another noise or a demon to pop out. Instead he stepped back immediately when he heard the air vent crash open, landing on the floor where he had just stood. That's when a tall, slender man swings out of the vent in a glamourous fashion. "Hello! My young teacher!" He yells aloud.

"Sir Pheles!" Yukio responds, equally as loud and even more surprised. He lowers his weapon, but not completely. Mephisto was a crazy one, after all.

"Yes! How are you, Mr. Okumura?" He asks, waving his hands dramatically in the air.

"I-I'm fine." He stutters, unsure of the correct answer.

"We'll then, I have come to get you!"

"For what?" He questions, more confused than before.

"I have, shall we say, a gift for you!" Mephisto gleams, stars in his eyes.

"A gift?" Yukio says suspiciously, not liking the idea of one of Mephisto's gifts.

"Yes! But I can understand if you don't want it. He just really wanted to see you after all this time!"

"He?" He blinks. So it wasn't an ordinary gift. It was a person… or a doll (this is Mephisto after all).

"Come with me!" Mephisto orders happily, sweeping Yukio away (against his will).

* * *

After hearing the wind whistle, loudly, in his ears they come to a stop in Mephisto's office. "What's this about, Sir Pheles?"

"See for you self, my young exorcist!" He waves his hand at his desk chair, which as if on cue turns around.

A somewhat transparent man sits on the desk chair. His brown eyes smile happily and the grin on his face is unmistakable.

"D-Dad?" Yukio says with a mixture of sadness, happiness, shock, and so many other emotions it was hard to distinguish them all.

The man in front of him was no other than, Shiro Fujimoto

"Hey there, Yukio." He calmly says. He stands from the chair and walks from behind the desk.

"H-How?" Yukio stutters in disbelief.

"Come on, Yukio. You should know this." He smiles putting a ghostly hand on Yukio's shoulder.

 _He warm._ Yukio thinks before answering the question. "You're a spirit."

"Bingo!" He chuckles. "Took you awhile."

Yukio continues to stare at him, wide eyed. "But still how are you back?"

"I did that!" says Mephisto, finally speaking up, "You see, I happen to come across a summoning spell that called to spirits rather than demons in one of the many books in Head Quarters. I just had to try it out!"

"Like a summon circle?" Yukio inquired.

"That and an incantation. What a nifty little spell!" He squealed in delight.

"Don't worry too much about the details, Yukio." Shiro interrupted, "so how are you doing?"

"I-I'm good!" He said, louder than he thought. He scolded himself for _I'm good_ being the only thing he could say out of his state of shock.

"How about we take a walk, hm?" Shiro asked while throwing an arm around Yukio's shoulders.

Yukio nodded quickly. His father guided him to the door, while Mephisto stepped out of the way. "So tell me what's been going on, Yukio? How's school?"

"We'll I'm top of the class." He said shyly.

"That's my boy! Though I wouldn't have expected anything less. Any girls yet?" He smiled.

"W-What!" Yukio stutters embarrassingly. Shiro lets out a heart-felt laugh at Yukio's reddening face. While Yukio, finally, feels his heart start to slow as he happily smiles back. From there he kept rambling on about school and work. He talked about the dorm, Ukobach, his own training, as well as his lectures. He updated his father on the monastery and his family there. He hadn't even realized that he talked for over an hour and half and they were on the opposite side of school.

Now that he thinks about it people probably thought he was an idiot since he probably appeared to be talking to himself. But at this moment, he didn't care.

But then, Shiro asks the question Yukio knew he was going to hear eventually. "How's your brother?"

He didn't know what to say, other than assure his father that Rin was alive and safe. "He's good. He's here roaming around the school somewhere."

"That dumb-ass got into True Cross Academy? How'd that happen?" Shiro smirked.

"Well Sir Pheles—," Yukio began.

"Ah. I see. He let him in. What a lucky boy." Shiro interrupted.

Yukio told Shiro about Rin's grades, friends and new food recipes (courtesy of Ukobach). However, he intentionally failed to mention the release of his demon heart. "Well I should go visit him too! Now where is that brat?"

"Uh." Yukio thinks, "Probably on the roof of the dorm. He seems to be there a lot lately."

"That doesn't seem like Rin." Shiro says, concerned, "Besides he'll never get any hot ladies sitting by himself all day."

"Yeah," Yukio smiles, "you're probably right."

* * *

He leads Shiro to the abandoned dorm. He figured that his father would have some questions about why they live in a dorm by themselves, however he asked none. In fact, he didn't really say anything since they entered the dorm. Yukio looked up at his face. It was completely serious, but even so he couldn't read his father's mind. He sighed as he leads him up the stairs to the roof.

The door swings open with a creak. Rin tilts his head backwards from where he was laying on the ground. The many emotions that Yukio had experienced just hours before swept across Rin's face at the sight of his father, standing before him. However, unlike Yukio one emotion stayed true. Fear.

"D-Dad?" He whispered.

Quickly Rin sat up with a yelp, grabbing his tail and tucking it into his pants. He then scooted away to the other side away from the entrance until he felt his back hit brick. Having nowhere else to run he brought his knees to his chest and covered his pointed ears with his hands, then closed his eyes.

Shiro found this sight both amusing and sad. That didn't stop him from stepping forward until he was right in front of Rin's knees. Yukio remains by the door, wishing to give them the space, they desperately needed. Shiro crouches down so that he was eye to eye with Rin. Grabbing Rin's hands with his own, he pulls them away from his ears, gaining a small tremble from Rin.

He smiles, knowing exactly what has happened and accepts it on the spot. "Rin. Open your eyes." Though he hesitates, Rin does just that. Brown eyes meet blue as they stare at each other. Shiro smirks. "Hello Rin."

"Hi. Dad." He whispers. His eyes fill with tears, but he holds them back. He takes another breath. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, yeah. Come here." Shiro replies ignoring his apology before gathering Rin in a tight hug. Even in his ghostly form, his body has some mass to it. Rin slides his head deeper into the crook of his father's neck to try to stop his trembling. Shiro holds on tighter, knowing that Rin needs the support more than the insult.

Eventually he pulls Rin away by his shoulders holding him at arm's length. "How are you, Rin?" He asks in a heartfelt voice and a small smile.

Rin rubs his eyes, "I'm good."

"Well then," he tightens his arm around his neck and gives him a hard noogie on the head. "How dare you disobey me!"

Rin grunts in irritation before pushing his father off, "I was trying to save you!"

"I was saving you, you little punk!" He smacks Rin on the top of the head, causing Rin to fall on the ground. "Here I was, happy that you lived and yet you turn yourself into a demon. I wasted a perfectly good "don't open the sword" speech on you too!" He put his fingers to his temples, rubbing them in circles due to the new headache.

"I didn't need your stupid speech!" Rin yells back.

"Apparently you did, you idiot!" They begin to wrestle each other, but even with Rin's new demonic strength he was no match for his father, being pinned so easily.

The mumble insults at each other, continuing to wrestle. Yukio looked at them in awe, then his face softened. He began to laugh at his family's antics. The other two didn't even notice, however all of them were thinking the same thing.

It's good to be a family again.

* * *

An hour later

"So, Dad, how long are you sticking around?" Rin asks.

"Why you wanting to get rid of me." Shiro responds sarcastically.

"No, but doesn't the spell wear off."

"Not really. Just like a normal summoning circle, you have to destroy the circle to release the soul." He points out.

"Really?" Yukio comments, amazed, "So where's the circle?"

"I think Mephisto has it."

"Then you're screwed." Rin remarks. They laugh.

Finally, they were a family again.

* * *

 **Shout Out to joannaleticitaracena for making me get a move on on this next chapter!**

 **Since the holidays are coming around and people are getting together with friends and family, I figured that bringing back the Fujimoto/Okumura family would be perfect for this chapter. Not to mention I love Shiro and was extremely sad when he died so I definitely wanted something with him in it. Yay! Happy Family Time!**

 **Does this go with the plot of the story... Don't really know. I probably will start to incorporate it into the plot line though.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed and continue to enjoy.**

 **Please Follow, Favorite and Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey Everyone! Yes it has been awhile. But, I'm back for the time being! Hope I didn't make any of you too sad**

 **Chapter 6 - Shadowing**

* * *

Weeks passed and things had become relatively normal, by demonic standards anyway. Rin had yet to rejoin the class, however he has opened up since Shiro returned. Well, kind of returned.

Rin started trusting the cram school students again and even began having longer conversations with them. But still, the conversations were too short for their liking and whenever they brought up anything demonic, he'd shy away almost immediately. Sometimes Rin would even try to make a break for it depending on the circumstances.

That didn't stop The Exwires though. They continued to fight to get Rin back or at least get stronger so that they could proudly stand beside him again one day. Even if it was just as acquaintances, because in all honesty, they'd do anything to show that he was accepted. Koneko eventually joined in as well, feeling guilty about treating Rin the way he did.

Still, even with all that extra training, it seemed that Rin was the one truly getting stronger. He'd even found more confidence, which was surprising since his ego was usually somewhere in space. In fact, it's probably the main reason why he had started conversing with them again.

But none of The Exwires knew about his sudden strength gain at the time. Instead they chose to keep Rin's friendship strictly non-demonic.

"What's next on the list, Koneko?" Bon asks, as the three of them walk away from the indoor training gym.

"Lecture on Chapter 14 enchantments, then a quiz on commonly found aqueous demons, and then our first real field training lesson," answers Koneko, while counting each task on his fingers.

"Still not half way done then," Shima remarks sarcastically, stretching his arms far above his head in attempt to crack his neck, shoulders, and back. It had been a hard training session, after all.

"Don't start complaining," Bon warns.

"I'm not complaining!" Shima replies, "It's just going to be a long day, that's all."

"Sounds like you're already complaining," Koneko chuckles slightly.

Grabbing Koneko around the neck, Shima pulls him into an arm lock while roughly fisting his head. Koneko shouts in surprise, asking Shima to let go. But Shima laughs manically and continues. Eventually, Bon pulls them a part. "Stop messing around!" Bon shouts, "let's get going."

Bon flicks his hand in signal to follow him. They others get the memo easily and quiet down. From there the three make their way to their next class.

* * *

A Couple of Hours Later…

After the Exwires finish their quiz it's off to the field training lesson, an experience they all have been waiting for. This will be the first time that they will be shadowing a team of exorcists and see their skills in true formation.

True they are excited to watch live action demon killing, but mostly they are awaiting the moment when they will get to be part of a team as well, and try out their skills along with the guidance of experience exorcists.

Once they get out of the cram school building they immediately walk to the abandoned dorm where Yukio and Rin live. However, unlike the last time, when they had had the exwire test, Yukio was the only one to greet them.

Despite the lack of a certain half demon brother, Yukio smiled at his students approaching. "Welcome everyone!" He greets professionally, but excitedly. Small greetings and grunts from his students were said in response but all of them had a small hint of excitement for today's activities.

"Today, as many of you known, is your first field training. During this lesson you will be paired with a high ranking exorcist of the class that you chose to focus on at the beginning of the year. From there you will shadow and even assist your exorcist with their duties. If you wish to change miesters or wish to study more than one that can be arranged in later field trainings. But for now, we will assign you all to a meister that best matches your skills. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one," Bon says, raising his hand. "What kind of assistance would an exorcists need from us?"

"Technically, you are there to shadow, which means you are there to observe and learn. It's rare if the exorcist will need your assistance however you may if they need it."

"So it's like were at the movies where the lead actors are fighting crime and we want to help save the damsel in distress but we can't because it's a film." Shima states quite dramatically, his arms flailing around in emphasis.

"I suppose you can look at it that way," Yukio giggles nervously. He peered up to the top of the dorm building, wondering if Rin and his father are up there. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to stop in and say "hi". He must get The Exwires to their assigned exorcists. "Alright everyone, follow me."

He leads them to the front door of the dorm. There he places a special key into the lock. It glows for just a second before dimming to normal. That's when Yukio yanks the door open revealing a different landscape all together, not a dorm main entrance.

Yukio takes The Exwires through the portal. On the other side, several exorcists were standing before them. 4 arias, 1 tamer, and 1 doctor type exorcist standing in a perfect line across a field. Some seemed calm and relaxed, others seemed anxious, and some even looked like they were ready to pumble someone if need be.

"Alright everyone!" Yukio calls, "I'm not going to do introductions since I'm sure that the exorcists would rather introduce themselves personally. Bon, Koneko, Shima, and Nemu, please choose one of our arias." He turns, "Izumo our tamer is the man over there, and Shiemi, the doctor is the woman to the far left."

They move, carefully choosing their exorcists based on the characteristics of their meister and stand beside them. Eventually they were all paired up. "Now then," Yukio continues, "these exorcists happen to be on the same team, so not only will you be watching their exorcist traits but also their teamwork skills. Watch carefully everyone and try not to be in the way. Remember, these exorcists were kind enough to volunteer for this shadowing position, we would not want to cripple their work in any way. So please be careful."

They bow in respect, as Yukio was still the highest ranking officer. Yukio, then, leaves through the portal before it closed completely.

* * *

The next couple of hours were slow and dull, without much of a panic. Some low level demons here some mid-level demons there but nothing too serious or out of the ordinary. The Exwires on the other hand were stuck watching battle after battle were most demons were destroyed in minutes, sometimes seconds if they were small or idiotic.

But in the end, they were bored out of their minds. "I felt that being an exorcist would be more exciting than this," Shima complains aloud.

"Me too," Bon and Koneko reply in unison.

The three of them sign, their shoulders hunched. "At least your exorcists are doing something," Izumo complains, "mine hasn't summoned a thing."

"Probably because all the demons up to this point haven't been worth summoning upon." Bon agrees.

"It's probably because they are only aloud to take us out on school grounds," Koneko comments, "with Sir Pheles' charms and shields it keeps most high level or dangerous demons away from the students."

"Yeah, your probably right." Bon sighs, "but that doesn't make it any less boring."

"Hey guys!" Someone shouts from above them. They turn their heads upwards to see the one and only Rin perched on the rooftop above.

"The hell you doing here, Rin?" Bon calls out.

"What?" Rin grins, "I'm not allowed to be here?"

"Aren't you supposed to be training?" Shiemi, whose been quiet this whole time, calls to him.

Rin jumps from the roof and swiftly lands on the ground below in a crouch. He straightens himself up and turns his head to her, "I'm done training for the day, but Mephisto gave me one last task. He sent me here to give the exorcists this note." He takes the note from his pockets and shows them the folded piece of paper, "He says its urgent."

"Urgent? Huh?" Bon questions suspiciously.

"Why wouldn't he just call the head of the team on their phone then?" Koneko asks.

"No idea," Rin shrugs, "You know Mephisto, always loves to be dramatic."

Without any response, Rin turns away and walks toward an exorcist on the sidelines. He hands the note over while explaining who it is from. The exorcist swipes it out of his hand and reads it, his eyes scanning the page.

"Hey, Boss!" The exorcist calls, "We got another job, and it's much bigger!"

He runs the note over to the exorcist who seems to be the ranking officer of the team. With the demons at the moment being handled, the man takes the note and scans over it much like the first one did.

"Alright everyone," he orders, "Let's clean up quick! We have a level 8 in the perimeter!"

"A level 8?" Bon spits, shocked, "Are they serious? What happened to the spells and charms around the school?"

"They aren't fool proof, you know," Izumo comments.

"Should we go too?" Shiemi asks, politely.

"Well I'm not missing out on the first real action we've seen all day." Bon stomps off toward the exorcists.

The others follow suit, all except for Shiemi who turns back to look at Rin. "Are you coming, Rin?"

For a moment, he stares at her. His eyes show anger, surprise and suspicion. But that clears away when he sees Shiemi's face. It obvious she wants him to come, like old times.

He turns his head upward, thinking for a moment about his options. _Did Mephisto do this on purpose? It seems weird that this would happen all of a sudden._ Rin thinks.

"Yeah, might as well." He shrugs before moving forward towards Shiemi and the others. "Not like I have anything else to do today."

Shiemi allows him to move ahead and follows close behind him, smiling at the chance to work beside him even if it's just for show.

* * *

The demon was relatively easy to find. Who wouldn't notice three nearly broken buildings and a messed up entrance to a parking garage? Not very discreet.

This demon, a shadow like 25ft snake like creature, seemed easy enough to take care of for the exorcist if it weren't for its attractive potency that appealed to low and mid-level demons from all around the school. Some of them were coming by the hundreds, making it very difficult to get to the demon in charge.

The Exwires joined in, taking out low level demons with the skills that they had learned. Rin, however, hadn't even unsheathed his sword. Instead, he stood there. He didn't look like he was afraid; it was more like he resigned himself to not fight.

"What's wrong with you?" Bon shouts at him while taking care of more and more demons. It was hard enough for Bon to talk in between his lines but he had to get Rin in the fight if they wanted to survive. _This isn't like him,_ Bon thought, _He'd normally be wildly waving his sword around by now._

Rin, however, didn't answer. "Rin!" Bon shouts again before quickly returning to more of his lines.

"I can't." He whispers.

"What do you mean, Rin?" Shiemi calls out, overhearing the whole conversation.

"I can't be involved with you guys anymore. Not yet." He replies. You could tell he was battling himself in order to stay in control of his anger, but the want to protect his friends from getting hurt was hard. It took everything he had to take a step back and let the others do their thing.

"What the hell does that mean?" Izumo replies, sending her white foxes out into the fray.

"I'm not allowed to. My powers still go out of control, it's more of a risk to you guys if I start fighting."

"At this point, we may die without your help." Shima grunts, holding back several demons with his staff.

"Shima's right. It's worth the risk." Bon states, ceasing all incantations and looking directly at Rin. "There are too many civilians outside that could possibly be hurt and as much as I hate asking for help from anyone, _especially you,_ we need it. None of us have weapons and our incantations aren't strong enough for this many demons so you need to use yours."

Rin returned Bon's gaze with full force. He clicked his sheath open and released his flames. It had been a while since the others have seen it, but it seemed that even though Rin didn't have complete control, he still was able to keep his logical mind. At least that was a step in the right direction.

Rin took an experimental swipe at some lower level demons, killing them on impact. He then looks back at the others. They nod, wanting him to move forward. "We'll take care of the demons back here; you take care of the larger one."

Rin nods and jumps into the action, swiping a path through the demons. The others also spring into action, keeping the lower and mid-level demons away from Rin so that he could focus on his target.

There eventually came a time when Rin finally reached the large snake demon. It launched itself several times and each time Rin ducked and dodged. However, the snake got wise to his tactics slithered its tail around Rin's legs. Within seconds Rin was tossed to the ground and a giant crevice was formed. From there the snake launched again. Rin was able to most avoid the attack but his left arm was caught in the fangs of the creature. He shouts in pain. Due to instinct, he slices at the snake's head until it let go and found that the fangs had penetrated all the way through his left forearm and bicep.

With blood seeping out of his wounds, he grabs his sword and with one last attempt he goes for the snake's soft underbelly and cuts from the back of his head forward until it was nearly in half. He then concentrates and wills the blue flames to obey him and engulf the rest of the creature and the surrounding demons into flames, ultimately killing them all.

The demon falls to the floor in a massive thump and twitches for a moment until finally dissipating into smoke and sand. Rin sheaths his sword once again and wraps it around his shoulder, careful not to jostle his arm too much.

He turns around to see that most if not all of the mid-level demons were gone and only some low level demons remained, but not enough to become too much of a threat. Shiemi was the first to run up to Rin. However, with the amount of blood loss, Rin is unable to stay conscious and his body sinks to the floor.

The other's gather around. Shiemi attempts to heal along with the exorcist doctor that she was shadowing. Together, the stabilize Rin and bandage his wounds.

* * *

While doing this, no one noticed that crazy smile lurking in the shadows. Mephisto had come to watch, knowing that Rin wouldn't be able to resist. "He controlled his flames," says a voice nearby, surprisingly. Mephisto looks over to Yukio, his accompaniment for the evening.

"Your right. That brat actually did it." Shiro remarks, smirking, clearly proud.

"When you said you wanted to see what he would do; you didn't mean if he could control his anger did you?" Yukio asks Mephisto.

"No. I did not." Mephiso replies, "Rin hasn't been able to control his flames because there's been no reason to. That, plus his fear, are the reasons why he's been having trouble. So I made a scenario where his "friends" and allies will be put in danger and he would half to control his flames long enough to save them."

"But you put everyone else at risk just for an experiment!" Yukio says loudly, clearly annoyed by this test.

"True," Shiro comments, "but it didn't happen. So the risk was beneficial. Besides the other exorcists could have taken care of that creature and if not Mephisto or you, Yukio, would have stepped in. We took all the necessary precautions."

For a moment, Yukio, stares at his father's face, trying to comprehend his words. _At the end of the day, he did save everyone._ Yukio thinks to himself. He straightens his back and looks forward towards Rin and the others, now seeing Rin back on his feet. He smiles.

"Well then," Mephisto states excitedly, "off to our next lesson then!" He spins around, his cape flowing behind him and disappears into the shadows once again, followed by both Yukio and Shiro.

* * *

 **I apologize for not updating in a few months. To be honest, I've had some major writers block on this story and I've been too busy to get over it. Unfortunately, I can't promise the next time I will update, but it shouldn't be nearly as long of a wait.**

 **I sincerely apologize to everyone, but thank you to all the encouraging Private Messages. I've read and responded and because of that I've made an effort to continue updating. Thank You so much!**

 **Please review, follow, and favorite!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yes it has been a while! But I've finally got another chapter out, so yay!**

 **Chapter 7 - Resolve**

* * *

Finally patched up from his recent battle, Rin returns to Mephisto's side. As his "familiar," he had work to do. Most of the time, he ran errands and listened to many of Mephisto's rants about Japanese culture. Recently, however, he seemed to mind less and less. He got to prove that his training had paid off.

He could control his flames, mostly.

That alone, was more than enough to get a little spring to his step during the day. For the first time in a long time, he felt confident. Not really cocky per-se, but definitely confident.

Shiro and Yukio noticed this change too. Obviously, they were proud of their darling screw up, but they worried that this new found confidence would disappear if he lost control again.

However, they weren't the type to sit back. "What do you think, Yukio?" Shiro asked, gently floating next to his brainiac son. They were on their way to pick up supplies from the shop. It was just a matter of finding a door that no one was around.

Unlike Shiro, Yukio could be seen and, being as popular as he was around school, that became a major issue. "About what?" He responded.

"Rin's progression."

"He's progressed." Yukio answered, simply. His monotone voice calming to ears and quiet enough that people around him wouldn't think he's talking to himself.

"That's it?" Shiro asked, grinning and glancing to the side towards Yukio.

"What else?" Yukio asked in response, finally choosing a door in an alley way in between two lecture halls. Normally this alley way was filled with cleaning carts and trashcans. With some maneuvering, Yukio easily passed through those barriers.

"Do you think he's capable to protect himself?"

Turning the key in the door lock, he swung the door open rather harshly. Shiro was one of the only people that knew Yukio's true intentions of becoming an exorcist.

One: to scare the monsters that plagued his vision when he was young.

Two: to protect his brother as he did so many times before.

"Is this a way of telling me to back off?" Yukio stood in the doorframe, his hand curling around the wood and his nails making etch marks within it, refusing to step in without an answer first.

"Nah, why would I say that to you?" Shiro smiled, his playful side coming out in full bloom. "Your brat of a brother needs you more now than ever."

"Then why bring it up?" Yukio asked, relieving the previous tension from his body by letting go of the door and walking inside. The heat of the sun from the top of the bridge was lovely, for a while it could even make the darkest thoughts disappear. There were no demons up here, no darkness, no doubts. Despite this locations usage as a store house, it was filled with warmth.

"Just wondering how you're taking it." Shiro responded, almost jokingly, gently hitting Yukio on his shoulder before floating in front of him towards the shop.

"I'm fine." Yukio blinked, his blue-green eyes gazing at Shiro with curiosity and confusion.

"Are you?" Shiro asked again.

Yukio sighed, his head and shoulders sinking low. "I'm not in the mood to play twenty questions with you." His voice sounding calm, but exasperated at the same time. He stood and continued walking after his father and mentor.

"Since you were little," Shiro explained "you've wanted to protect Rin as he did to you. Now that Rin is getting stronger and can take care of himself, what is going to be your new motivation?"

"Nothing has changed." Yukio responded simply. They were half way across the bridge. The angles of their shadows changing with the sun's light. Their footprints making paddling noises against the stone brick.

"Really?" Shiro asked, slightly shocked at the answer.

"Yes." Yukio continued. "Rin may be able to hold his own, but he's not quite out of the exwire stage. Compared to others, he is untrained and, god knows, undisciplined. Despite his progress, I still have the motivation to protect him."

"And what about after?" Shiro asked.

"I haven't really thought about it to be honest. We're here together now. If I can keep it that way, I will."

"I just want to make sure that you'll have the will to continue if that dumb-ass continues progressing."

"Even if Rin does surpass me. I'll always have his back." Yukio graced Shiro with a small smile.

"You're resolve sure is unwavering, Yukio." He smiled proudly back.

* * *

Rin tumbled onto the couch of the abandoned dorm, face down, sprinkling dust everywhere. Training was harsh today, but worth it. After his familiar duties, he met up with Shura and sparred against her for a few hours. Every time he was knocked on his ass, but there was one time that he disarmed her.

It was amusing to watch her face go from shocked, to angry, to downright pride. It made his feel pride, too. He realized he'd been brooding for a long time. Pretty much since he was little.

He was always different. He hurt people and couldn't find a way to fit in. The only people who cared to talk to him was the old man, Yukio, and the others from the monastery. He didn't have friends.

It was also weird to think about how that's changed. Though he couldn't hang around with them anymore, he still considered the cram school students to be friends of his. In fact, they were probably the only non-family members to ever fight for him. Even if it was against Mephisto, who had a crazy, unbreakable resolve and a want for Rin's service.

He took in the damp, moldy smell of the couch cushion before putting both hands under himself and hoisting himself up. There was some soreness from the work out, but he figured he'd feel better after a shower.

Locking himself away in the community style showers, he bathed in the warm water. His arm was fully healed, which he marveled at because there wasn't even a scar. He'd seen scars on demons before, he wondered how they got them. Not that he truly wanted one, but he was simply curious at the idea.

After the shower, he dried off and changed into comfortable clothes consisting of sweats and a t-shirt. He continued to dry his hair with a towel as he stepped out of the room. He was surprised to cross paths with the other cram school students.

"Rin!" Shiemi cried and barreled into him, giving him a hug. He felt back against the wall, slightly in pain at his sore body being run into.

"Shiemi." He grunted out, recovering from her squeeze. He held the towel in his hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist, returning the embrace. "What's up, you guys? What're you doing here?"

"Quiz from the cramp school, then some overnight training. We were supposed to meet here and wait for Yukio to return from the shop." Bon answered.

Rin nodded in understanding, finally being able to breath because of Shiemi's release on his ribs. "That's cool."

"How was your day?" Koneko asked.

"Good, tiring, but I feel great."

Shiemi frantically grabbed his arm. "How's your wound?" She turned the arm around several times, finding no trace of the wound.

He grinned at her, placing a hand on her head. "I'm fine, Shiemi."

"You going to join us for training?" Bon asked.

"I might drop by to bother Yukio, but I'm not staying up late, too exhausted for that." He waved his hand in the air, signaling his lack of desire.

"There you are." Yukio called, coming down the hallway. Shiro not far behind. "What are you all doing in the hallways. You were supposed to wait in the lobby."

"We got bored." Shima smiled, sheepishly.

"Well, come on, we should get started." Yukio looked at Rin and nodded in greeting. It was obvious that the others wanted to see him but it wasn't like Rin was complaining.

Yukio lead the others through the hall and down the stairs to another level where the classrooms were set up. Shiro stayed with Rin, keeping him company for a while.

"So, who's the girl?" Shiro smiled, throwing an arm around Rin's neck.

"What girl?" Rin fumed, suddenly be annoyed.

Shiro pressed his face close to Rin's. "The cute girl that came up, called your name then gave you a tentative hug." He smiled, knowingly.

"Back off, old man." Rin pushed him away.

Shiro laughed. "Maybe you're not as hopeless as I thought. That pretty girl, hanging all over you."

"She was not hanging all over me!" Rin yelled.

"Oh, really?" Shiro poked Rin's chest, continuing to smile like a maniac. "You hugged her back. I've never seen you do that before, even to your dear-old-dad."

He swiped the finger away. "Because she's not a perverted old man!" Rin shouts.

"Oh, yeah! You ass!" Shiro puts Rin into a headlock, then falls backwards, taking Rin with him. Rin struggles, but with his body aching he doesn't have the strength to fight back.

"Come on! Can't even beat an old man!"

"You're so lucky I had a workout today!"

They continue to wrestle and shout insults, making the building rattle.

* * *

Yukio looks up at the ceiling, hearing the commotion, along with the others. He sighs. He had just gotten everyone settled for their quiz and his brother and father are fighting right above them. The shudder from the ceiling sent dust particles trailing down to the ground.

He should have asked them to leave or at least go to the roof.

"Sounds like they're having fun up there." Bon comments, clearly annoyed by the disruption. He tapped his pencil annoyingly at his paper.

"No kidding." Shima smiled.

"Knowing Rin, though, this probably happens a lot." Koneko adds.

"You're right about that." Yukio smiles, awkwardly.

* * *

Finally, Yukio calls 'pencils down' and collects the quizzes, stashing them in his briefcase for safe keeping. The noise disappeared a while ago, seems like Rin and Shiro stopped their pathetic wrestling competition.

"Alright everyone, we'll take a break and come back for training in about half an hour." Yukio looks at his watch, making sure to mark the time. Immediately everyone begins to stretch and groan. Shima and Koneko tip over to the floor in tiredness.

Yukio gets up to leave. "Going to check on them, Mr. Okumura?" Bon asks, moving his shoulder in circles, getting the kinks out.

"Yeah. I better. Not to mention, there's probably serious damage." Yukio grabs his briefcase so that he can take it up while he's going. He won't be needing it anymore and he had to grab some supplies from his room. Hopefully, Rin and Shiro would be there. From how quiet it was, at least they weren't fighting.

Yukio closes the door behind him, moving towards the staircase. When he gets to the floor there are plenty of holes in the walls and ripped off paint. Luckily none of them went all the way through so it didn't hurt the integrity of the building.

Still… Yukio sighs.

He opens the door to Rin and his room, quietly, and peeks his head in. "Hello, Yukio." Shiro whispers, from Rin's desk where he was reading some of his old books he had given to Yukio way back when. Yukio turns a bit farther to see Rin sprawled out on his bed, snoring lightly.

"He's worn out, right?" Shiro smiles.

"Yeah." Yukio, finally, fully entered the room, placing his bag by the desk and grabbing some supplies from the corner. A couple of guns and bullets, a clipboard, and some summoning paper.

"What's the training today?"

"Just some simple summoning. Nothing, too, special."

"Ah." Shiro returns to his book. "I can't believe you kept this old thing."

"We actually kept a lot of your old stuff here. It's in the next storage closet." Yukio says, as he packs this supplies away in another bag.

"Really? Why keep it?"

"For memory sake." Yukio replies.

"Memories." Shiro scoffs.

"It may seem weird to you, but we wanted those things. They reminded us of you."

"And now you've got the real thing."

"You're a ghost. That's not exactly the real thing." Yukio looks up to him, an eyebrow raised.

"But I'm here aren't I?"

"Yes and because of that Rin finally has much more confidence than before, same for me."

"Look at you getting all mushy." Shiro whipped a fake tear from his face.

Yukio just laughs softly. Suddenly, they hear a moan and watch as Rin turns to nearly fall off the bed but doesn't awaken.

"Too bad he isn't always this quiet." Shiro comments.

Yukio just laughs again before walking to the door, the bag of supplies slung across his shoulder. "If you need anything, I'm downstairs."

Shiro gives him a thumbs up before Yukio leaves again.

Shiro gives on last glance to Rin before returning to his book. A book about a medical doctor unable to invoke empathy in himself after watching so many die within the hospital until a young child comes to pass who is determined to live beyond the life he was given. He remembered Yukio liked this book. He did, too.

The child always reminded Shiro of his own sons and the doctor was similar to himself. Before the boys came along he'd kill any demon within a ten-mile radius without a thought. But when he was raising technically two demon sons, he found himself getting lighter and smiling more, finding empathy in their struggles and wanting to help them. It was the reason why Shiro hid Rin's true abilities from him for so long and had taught Yukio how to become and exorcist.

He hoped that one day, Yukio and Rin would do the same.

* * *

 **Kind of a cute little story, is it not?**

 **Sorry I took so long. I've been meaning to write for this story, but I also have another fanfic going and school, work, and friends to think about. Sorry about that.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yes, it has been a while and, yes, this is a shorter chapter, but it brings the story into a major arc that I'm creating so I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Sitting up top on the roof, one leg hanging over the edge, Rin contemplates the next training exercises. Apparently, Shura has a plan for him, at least that what she says. Mephisto agreed to it, so he can't ditch out either.

"Rin?" A voice called from behind him.

He turns his head around, glancing behind him. "Shiemi?"

Rin spins around, nearly falling off the edge. "Hey! What's up?" He responds, much more cheerfully.

Bon steps forward, pushing past Shiemi, gently. She responds, "We're on a lunch break."

"Suguro? You're here, too?" Rin asks as he comes to stand on the edge next to him.

"This is a nice place up here." Suguro says to no one in particular.

"Yeah." Koneko agrees, he holds his hand above his eyes, shielding the sun so he can get a better look, standing next to him is Shima, who simply smiles at the scenery.

"Wow!" Shiemi gasps, looking around. "You can see the whole school from up here!"

"It's the best." Rin agrees, turning gaze towards the horizon.

"Eh, it's okay." Izumo responds. Though she still smiles.

"Is this why you sit up here so often?" Shiemi asks, coming to sit next to him, throwing her legs over the side.

"I guess." Rin shrugs, "It's a good place to think."

"You'll hurt yourself by thinking so much." Koneko teases. Both Bon and Shima laugh.

"Yeah, your brain can't handle it." Bon adds.

"I'll show you." Rin growls under his breath, but feels unwilling to fight at the moment. It was nice out, warm and the gentle breeze stirs the tree leaves below.

"How'd you guys know I was up here?" Rin asks, out of the blue.

"You're hanging off the edge of the building. How could we not see you?" Bon answers.

"We called you're name, but you didn't respond, so we came here to make sure you were alright." Shiemi places her small, dainty hand on his bicep, showing true concern.

"Hmm? You called me?"

"Yeah, we were just below you at the entrance, but you weren't paying attention." Koneko says.

"Sorry." Rin rubs the back of his neck, tangling his long hair back there.

"What were you thinking about anyways?" Izumo asks, he high pitched voice demanding an answer, though also seeming like she didn't really care.

"Just about this new training session that's coming up later today. Shura says that it's for sure going to help me control my flames."

"That's great, Rin!" Shiemi throws her arms around him.

"Sounds suspicious to me." Bon responds.

"What do you mean?" Rin looks up to him, holding Shiemi in his arms.

"How do any of us know how to control your blue flames? They couldn't even save the lives of the blue night."

"That's a good point." That hadn't occurred to Rin before. During the Blue Night, Satan killed those people without blinking an eye. However, now knowing what his powers could do, Rin wonders if Satan meant to kill those people or if he just wanted a way out of Gehenna. Freedom… something Rin feels he hasn't had in such a long time.

Even so, Rin knew it was obvious that Satan, undeniably, hated humanity and wanted to rid the world of humans. But he married one, didn't he? Or at least fell in love with one – it is the only way to have children. That was Rin's biggest question. If Satan hated humans, why not kill their mother?

At some points, during this year in hell, he wished that Satan had. It would mean that both he and Yukio wouldn't be suffering anymore. The powers were cool, but at the end of the day… Rin saw himself as a monster. He remembers admitting it to Yukio when Neuhaus had attacked him that day.

It's the reason why people are so afraid of him. Despite, his friends and family, more and more exorcists are becoming aware of his existence, as are demons. It was like he was the child of Frankenstein, there weren't others like him.

He's being hunted on both sides…

And he hated it.

Rin shakes the thoughts from his head. He despised the fact that his confidence had fallen so quickly.

"How's boot camp for you guys going?" Rin asks, changing the subject, as he tries to perk up a bit.

"It's fine. Just a bunch of exams, nothing like the Exwire exam." Shima answers.

"That doesn't sound helpful."

"Well they say repetition is the best way to learn." Bon shrugs.

"Hey, Okumura!" Shima looks around Koneko and Bon, catching Rin's eyes with a knowing smile. "Mind cooking us up some delicious grub?"

"Sure. I guess."

"Yes!" Shima cheers. Koneko laughs and Bon silently thanks the gods for Rin's ability to cook. Normally, Ukobach would be cooking meals for them. But, Ukobach had been out of the kitchen for about a week now catering to Mephisto's brother's seemingly endless stomach, so he hasn't been around. That left Rin to cook meals for him and Yukio. Luckily, the kitchen was stocked and as long as he put everything back Ukobach wouldn't mind.

"What are you guys in for?" Rin asks, lifting his legs from the edge and putting his legs back underneath him as he stands up. He hops away from the edge of the dorm, strolling towards the door inside.

"Whatever." Shima response, more excited than before.

Finally, they enter the dining room. Immediately, Rin walks behind the window to the kitchen. He rummages through the cabinets and fridge looking for usable ingredients. He knew what he was going to make, but wasn't sure how much time the class had before they'd have to leave.

He calls out the window, "How much time do you guys have left?"

Izumo looks at the watch on the backside of her wrist. "About 45 minutes."

"Kay." He ducks back inside. Grabbing an apron from the silvery hook, he wraps the straps behind him, creating a strong sturdy knot.

* * *

Lunch had been served and Yukio had not yet arrived. The head of the table was empty and Rin wondered what he was up to. The last thing they needed was to get attacked by a mystery demon like the Exwire exam.

Especially since Rin wouldn't be able to help. Mephisto had given him strict orders to stay out of the Exwires way when demons surround them, otherwise they'd never harness their skills they practiced so much. However, Mephisto did promise to make sure Rin was told whenever those special occurrences like the Exwire exam would happen so that he'd be sure to be far away from the scene.

But that didn't stop himself from worrying. He'd grown to like these people, his friends. Too bad, he had to distance himself from them. Not that he was doing a great job, considering every time they were around he'd revert back to the normalcy of having them.

"Rin?" Breaking out of his thoughts, Rin looked across the table. Shiemi was looking at him as if she'd seen a ghost.

No wait, she wasn't looking at him at all but behind him. He swiveled his head around to see the burning remains of a picture frame. The flames were blue.

 _Damnit._ He thought.

"Sorry." He apologized, his voice completely indifferent, despite him losing control of his powers again.

"Are you alright, Okumura?" Bon asks, questioning his random power surge. Rin may not be 100% in control of his flames, but usually things like this happened when he was angry. But Bon just saw him sitting there, simply, being quiet. Which, now that he thought about it, was rare.

"Fine." Rin answers, his voice the same as before, completely monotoned. He stands and goes to the picture frame. He slams his hand over the remaining flame and slowly, sweeps it off the counter extinguishing the flame and spreading the ash. He checks the table the frame was one, checking for any burns. There wasn't any.

"What happened?"

"I guess, I lost control." Rin doesn't meet their eyes. Instead he walks back to the table, calmly and begins picking up the plates. Other than the clacking noise of the glass from plates being pressed together, the room is eerily silent. That is until slams his hands on the table and stands while doing so in one quick, swift motion.

Rin yelps, quietly, knowing the anger is directed at him. His eyes meet Bon's.

"What's up with you? You were fine a couple minutes ago!"

Rin shakes his head. "I don't know."

"What the hell do you mean? You just lit a picture on fire!"

"I said I'm sorry!" Rin, his anger building up. He drops the plates and they crash to the table. Luckily none of them break.

"That doesn't cut it! What's wrong!"

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Why won't you tell us what's going on?"

"Because it doesn't matter!"

"Yes, it does!"

"No!"

"God, you're infuriating." Bon crosses his arms and looks the other direction, clearly annoyed.

Rin sighs. He picks the plates us again at moves towards the kitchen. "It's not like I can do anything about it anyways." He mumbles as he scampers away into the safe-haven of cooking equipment.

"What?" Bon never got an answer because Rin was already gone. He'd taken the plates dumped them into the sink and took off out of the side door that was usually used for trash and deliveries.

* * *

When Yukio returned to the dorm for more training, he was met with somber faces and a cold plate of food. He decides not to ask since it's none of his concern.

One by one the others leave the dining room, heading towards the makeshift classroom on the second floor. "What happened to all your friends, Yukio?" Shiro asks as he watches the class push by him without a single glance or hello while walking up the stairs. Their footsteps are slow and steady and the floor creaks as they march down the hall.

"No idea and they're not my friends, they're my students." Yukio's eyes close in exasperation. Though he loved his father dearly, sometimes he'd get the wrong idea and not understand.

"You're the same age as them, Yukio. How about you have some fun?" Shiro gives him an award-winning smile before Yukio shakes his head.

"I don't have time for that." He passes his father without another glance. "You may want to check on Rin though."

Shiro's emotion doesn't change. He still smiles at how grown up his boys have become. When Yukio turns the corner, the smile fades.

Something's wrong with Rin.

He knows it.

* * *

Because Shiro has some mass to his otherwise ghostly body, he can't just float up to the sky and see if he can find Rin, he can't even phase through walls to get to where he is.

He checks the roof, only to find nothing. Rin's not there and the coolness of the breeze make it even more eerie to be there. However, Shiro stays and floats toward the edge. Looking over he tries to find any other high place he can think of that would be quiet and secluded. One look and he knew.

There was a tower perched above Mephisto's office, similar to a bell tower, but more rounded towards the top, though the spear pole that reach towards the sky was there. Though Rin didn't use the tower much, it was secluded and had windows and a heater for when it got cold.

"Rin." Shiro mumbled to himself before gliding towards the roof top door.

At Mephisto's office, Shiro shoves the door open. "Alright where is that good-for-nothing?"

"Which one?" Mephisto's asks, clasping his hands together under his chin with a knowing grin.

"The brat, that's who."

"I believe he's snuck his way into the tower again." He gestured above him. "He came in here grabbed one of my Japanese throw blankets, one the expensive ones too, and took off!"

"I knew it." Without another word, Shiro slams the door to Mephisto's office. He stomps his non-existence feet up the flight of stairs. It's the only door, more of a hatch really. One of those that opens from the floor rather than the wall, like a secret trap door.

Before Shiro enters, he calms himself, whatever Rin has in his head, he'd rather not scare him into not talking. He lifts the door up, hearing the creak of the old hinges. Immediately dust washes down into the floor below making Shiro cough up a storm.

The room is a bright red with gold and white trimmings lavishing the walls in a decoration of swirls and flowers. It's a 360-degree room with windows on every side, each split up by a pillar, creating a cylindrical shape. Then, there's a window couch that follows the interior of the room. In all honesty, if the room wasn't so dusty it would be pretty and have a fantastic view of the city.

Shiro, looks past the decorations and ornaments to look around for his son. When he sees a bulge under a manga blanket, of which Shiro had no idea which manga it was, he flipped the door open completely, cringing slightly as it landed with a thump on the wooden floor.

He climbs up the rest of the stairs. Turning to the right towards the blanket. The closer he came, the more the bluish, black hair began to stick out of the covers in odd angles. Such a cute moment, Shiro thought before ripping the covers off taking Rin with them.

Rin spun off the couch and landed face down on the floor, he cried out as he smashed into the hard wood. "What the hell, old man!" He yelled out, picking himself up and rubbing his head.

"You, dumbass! Who the hell do you think you are worrying us like this?" He yelled back.

"I haven't done anything!"

"Really? I just suppose you're sleeping in here for no reason." A small tick mark appeared on Shiro's head.

"It's comfortable up here!"

"Rin." Shiro calmed himself a bit. "What wrong?" He remembered that Rin as a child hated being yelled at and reacted better with a calmer approach. Sometimes it was hard not to raise his voice, but for Rin, he would.

"Nothing." He turned his head away. "I'm fine."

"It's about being a demon isn't it."

"I'm not just a demon." Rin blurted out quickly, faster than his brain could process.

"You're right you're human too."

"No. That's not it either." He leaned his head back against the dirty window, sighing. His shoulders sunk down and his back slouched.

Shiro sat beside him, crossing on leg over the other. "What's this about, Rin?"

"Am I a monster?"

"What brought this up? You were so confident yesterday."

"I keep having flashbacks to when I was little and the teacher and other parents use to scream it at me. That I was a demon, a monster."

"Screw them. Just because you're half demon doesn't categorize you as a monster. Most demons are fine in this world."

"But I'm not. The Vatican took me away from everyone." Rin's eyes squinted, growling out in pure hatred. Though, Shiro was unsure whether towards The Vatican or himself. He suspected the latter.

"What do you mean, you see your friends all the time and your brother cares for you. I don't see you as being alone, Rin."

"But this is just for now, isn't it? Eventually, they'll come, won't they?"

"The Vatican? Nah, those guys are complete wimps."

"Come on, old man. Level with me. Tell me honestly, if didn't know me what would you think?"

"I don't have to because I do know you. I raised you."

"What would you think?"

Shiro paused. Rin looked at him pleadingly, a new face all together for him that Shiro had never seen. "I'd probably go after you."

Rin nodded. "Even Yukio wanted me dead at first." Rin's eyes stared intently at the ceiling as the memory of his brother pointing at gun at him on the first day of cram school passed. He was to blame for his father's death. At the time, he couldn't blame Yukio for wanting to kill him, he'd probably would have done the same.

"I don't believe that. He'd never harm you."

"You were dead." Rin deadpanned, melancholily. "I killed you. I ultimately led to your death. The fact that you still somehow saved me that night…" He trailed off.

Shiro leaned back, resting his elbows on the backrest of the window couch, letting the words soak in. "Yukio doesn't believe that now and neither do your friends."

"But—,"

"But nothing," Shiro interrupted. "You have the power to change people, Rin. And little by little, you have. From what I gather, that Suguro boy wants to kill Satan, but for some reason he's fine with you. Same with that Konekomaru, he was scared of you but he seems to interact with you just fine now. Sheimi, from the shop, she's not afraid of you at all. And Yukio, well…" He trailed off. "Yukio just wants to protect you. I'm telling you, he's more scared for you than of you."

Shiro wrapped an arm around Rin's shoulders, pull him down and closer. "You have some fantastic people around you, Rin. Don't worry so much."

Rin didn't respond. He simply starred at the floor.

Unknowingly, in the shadows, Mephisto watched the encounter between father and son. He chuckled at the human tradition for parent/child relationships. Humans never ceased to amaze him. "Truly a spectacle." He mumbled to himself, taking a whiff of the tea he had warming his hands. "Rin Okumura, you are an interesting specimen.

The phone rang and scene disappeared from in front of him. He eyed it, happily. With a graceful hand, he picked it up. "Hello." He answered.

"I suppose." He replied again into the phone. "He's ready for pick up."

* * *

 **Mysterious enough? I sure hope so!**

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